Psalm 63:1 “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You; I
thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where
there is no water.”
This Psalm was written by David while he was wandering and
hiding in the Judean desert wilderness during his flight from either Saul or
Absalom. Even though he was far away from where he desired to be, in Jerusalem
worshiping the Lord, his longing for and expression of intense love and desire
for his God is articulately detailed in this vivid word picture. A desert is a
barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living
conditions are hostile to plant, animal and human life. Can you imagine trying
to survive in a dry desert and you are so thirsty because there is no water,
the land is parched, arid and hot, and the lack of vegetation has exposed the
unprotected surface of the ground beneath your feet? The human body needs food
and water to survive. Although it would be difficult, you can go three weeks
without food, but water is a completely different story. If you do not have
water to hydrate your body, within three days in this type of environment, you
will perish. In his devotion, David longs for God’s presence and His nearness,
just as much as he is wandering in the desert longing for water. I believe this
is right where our Lord desires each and every one of us to be, longing for Him
as we would a cup of cold water on a hot and dry summer day.
When we were in Israel, we hiked for an hour into an oasis
located west of the Dead Sea in the Judean Desert where we found the majestic
waterfalls of Ein Gedi where David found sanctuary and relief from the dry and
parched land he had been traveling. As
we followed the hot and dry trails up into the canyon, I would look back and I
would take pictures of the magnificent and spectacular view below of the Dead
Sea with the Jordanian Edom mountains located on the horizon. Although the
beginning of the hike was hot and uncomfortable, the farther we got into the
canyon, the landscape began to change into a lush and rich greenery, and all of
a sudden the creek opened up into a splendid waterfall with pools for swimming.
It was definitely one of the most beautiful and magical places we encountered
in Israel, but some of the people in our tour didn’t go on the hike, including
my husband. And as I swam in the pools at the base of the waterfall, I thought,
“oh how he missed out.” Sometimes on our journey of life we may look back
nostalgically at a long-ago stage of our travels and yearn for something easier
and less complicated or sometimes, we choose not to go on an adventure or trail
because it looks difficult, but if we do not follow the path that He has set
before us and press forward, we may miss the sanctuary and refreshment that the
Lord has for us ahead.
Psalm 42:1-2 says, “As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for You, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the Living God.
When can I go and meet with God?” When was the last time your soul thirsted for
the Living God? I think a better question would be, when did you last notice
that your soul pants for the Lord? Each and every one of us has a hunger and a
thirst within us for the Living God but we try to fill it with all kinds of
other things. Just as our bodies will never be satisfied with just one drink of
water, our souls will never be satisfied with what this world has to offer, but
if we drink of the Living Water, we will never be thirsty again.
– Melody
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